


The Peck Files

by CaptainMaximumStorm48



Category: Ghostbusters (Comics), Ghostbusters (Video Game), Ghostbusters - All Media Types
Genre: Eat Me, Gen, Multi, There's gonna be more, also yes i ship my oc with ron, i dunno where this is gonna go but i'm not hating it so far so there's that, just fair warning, look Peck needs more love alright?, might be canon at some point i dunno, the first ship is kinda implied and one sided
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-07-25 08:19:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7525279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainMaximumStorm48/pseuds/CaptainMaximumStorm48
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because Walter Peck is my favorite male side character and no-one seems to write about him ever, I have taken it upon myself to write about him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. File 1- Fruit Basket

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to wickedmusic96 on tumblr for inspiration to do this. you are amazing.

Walter wasn’t sure what he’d expected coming into his office that morning, aside from, perhaps, the ever growing stack of paperwork on his desk to be even taller. Knowing his luck, not only would it be taller, but it’d be strewn all over the floor of his office. Because the universe, it seemed, wanted him to work all day and night just to spite him by disorganizing all of his hard work. 

Sometimes, he really hated his job. Sure, the pay wasn’t bad and to be honest, there was some fun in having a level of control over the ghostbusters, especially Venkman. However, as the representative of the interests of New York city, he was an odd combination of lawyer, insurance agent, and babysitter for the Ghostbusters, which left him with piles of paperwork to sort and sign.

To be fair, the Ghostbusters were at least thorough in their reports, did them at a reasonable pace and didn’t complain (to his face) too much about them. He’d give them that. That, and the fact that they didn’t _nearly_ do as much property damage as they used to.

So that morning when he came in (7 ‘o 5 on the dot, with a steaming cup of coffee in hand), he wasn’t expecting much.

A fruit basket was a bit **much** for 7 in the morning. It took him a moment to process that there was, in fact, a fruit basket waiting for him in his office amidst the varying piles of files and reports, but once he did he was just confused. Why in the hell would anyone send him a fruit basket? Not that he didn’t appreciate it, but it was a little unexpected.

He plucked the card up from the center of the basket, and did a double take. He flipped it over a couple of times to be sure. Well, he’d be damned. 

The card simply read, “Dear Mr. Peck, thank you for saving our asses for the umpteenth time, here’s that fruit basket we promised you” and was signed by all four of the ghostbusters (Walter noted with a hint of amusement that Venkman had both capitalized and underlined the Dr in front of his name.) 

At first, he thought they were just fucking with him. It wouldn’t be too out of character for them, _especially_ Venkman. But the more he thought about it, the more it didn’t make sense. While he and the ghostbusters most certainly see eye-to-eye most of the time, he couldn’t see them wasting the time, effort, or food to mess with him. And, really, pissing off the guy who was your ‘get-outta-jail-free card’ wasn’t the wisest of ideas, even if they stepped on each other’s toes frequently.

With this thought in mind, he grabbed an apple and got to starting his day.


	2. File 2- Settling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pining and self-doubt

Sometimes he wants to cup her face in his hands and say “you deserve so much more than what you’ve settled for.”

He’s not sure if it is love, lust, or anything, but there’s something about her that brings up warm feelings, and they don’t see eye-to-eye, they should hate each other (she probably does, his mind replies), but he can’t. 

He sees her pine over **him** and his heart sinks. **He** is a man of little emotions or care of others feelings, and while Walter doesn’t care about that on a personal level, but it’s not fair to her. She deserved so much better than **him**.

(and you think she deserves you? His mind whispers. No, would be his reply, no one deserves me.)

He thinks that whomever gets a woman like her to love them would be lucky. 

He would be so lucky.

But she should hate him, she should, because he’s an asshole, he’s not a good guy, he’s an issue that she shouldn’t have to deal with. 

(part of him loves it when they get into spats, because she’s so passionate, especially since she hates him.)

(part of him wants to make her happy. Wants to make her smile, because if there’s anyone who deserves it, it’s her. But it’ll never be him, because she loves **him** and that isn’t gonna change anytime soon.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a reason why it's so vague, but i'll probably explain later. you might be able to tell though who Walter's thinking about, i wasn't trying to be super mysterious.  
> also i've had that first sentence in my head since yesterday


	3. File 3- Rookie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which i talk about my idea of the rookie- a 5 foot blonde woman with glasses and some chub.

Walt grows to like the Rookie. 

She’s small, chubby, and not a science major (drama with a psych minor doesn’t count), but she can carry the proton pack with little complaint, and is mostly undisturbed by supernatural monsters. Mostly.

Walter has transcripts of the radio conversations, and her’s are the least professional language wise. He lost count of how many ‘fuck’s and ‘shit’s she’d uttered a while back. But she’s smart, and quick on her feet. And she happens to like him.

Not romantically, of course- she’s a good 20 years younger, and judging from her constant glances at pretty ladies in the street, probably gay- but on a professional, platonic level. Granted, she’s like that with everyone, but she calls him “sir” and “Mr. Peck” on the job and rarely joins the teasing of her mentors.

She also writes her reports at a good pace when she’s able, and is willing to do it verbally if she can’t write. She’s hardy and stubborn like that.

There is an edge of sympathy on his side. He got a front role seat to her first week on the job, and it was not pretty. Hell, the day they first met she already had a bruised and cut face, but still shook his hand and acknowledged his authority best she could. And at the museum, she seemed more concerned about the civilians in the room and her co-workers than herself. And not to mention the fight with Shandor, in which she was thrown to the floor several times and still managed to limp over to fight.

How she didn’t die he didn’t know. Broken wrist, ankle, several ribs, concussion, 2nd degree burns on her arms, a whole lot of stitches, and major bruise. It was a miracle she didn’t crack her skull or, worse, her spine.

Rookie understandably spent a lot of time at the hospital, and then even more time on “bed rest”, before she got bored and started begging for things to do. 

She was a good file-er, and it was a good negotiator between him, the city, and the boys in gray. He almost wanted her to stay as an assistant. But it became clear that she loved her new job, and she could do it well, sometimes even better than her peers.

“You need to stop letting us pile up appointments,” She said one morning, walking into his office uninvited but baring coffee. She had giant bags under her eyes and a bandaid on her nose, making her glasses sit a bit crooked, and she was wearing jeans and a hoodie. “I don’t think Egon’s slept in two days and Ray is running mostly on caffeine at this point.”

“What do you want me to do about it, make a rule?” He accepted a coffee.

“Yes.” Rookie said bluntly. “If we’re only gonna function with five people, then said five people need to be able to eat and sleep without being called to fight another ghost.” 

“Why don’t you bring it up to them?” Walter did a scan over her. She looked exhausted.

“Because they’re guys with pride. The only sane one at the firehouse aside from Janine’s Winston, and 2 to 3 isn’t fair. You make it a rule means that it can get enforced and then we won’t be deprived of basic needs, meaning we can do our job correctly and you get to look good in front of the mayor which gets us all money.” Rookie took a sip of coffee. 

Walter glanced at his pile of paperwork, then back at her. “I’ll see what I can do.” He finally says.

“Always knew you were a good guy, Mr. Peck. Thank you for your consideration and time.” And then she walked out.

He smiled, slightly. She was a smart one, alright. He could get used to her.


	4. File 4- Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> slight suicide tw? it's very briefly mentioned, but i feel like i should put a tw anyways?
> 
> aka, the one in which we get some backstory on peck

As he grows older, Walter starts to wonder how he ended up a skeptic, since he practically lived in a ghost town. 

It wasn’t an abandoned town, and it lived close enough to the big city that it wouldn’t be abandoned, but there was something inherently wrong with it. Knowing eyes everywhere, screams in the woods, and the ever present warning to never, ever, go near the pond. 

And people kept dying. 

His sister drowned in the pond. Ice too thin. She couldn’t swim. She was seven. He watched as she disappeared under the ice and did nothing. His living sister would blame him forever for not saving her. He was four. She was eleven.

His father put a bullet in his mouth. A string of failed cases, as well as guilt for not looking after his now dead daughter, drew him into an inescapable depression. They’d been close. His living sister would call him a freak forever for shutting down instead of openly grieving. He was thirteen. She was twenty.

Walter remembers things he can’t explain in the costume department of the high school. He remembers something whispering his lines when he forgot them on stage, and he remembers hands pushing him away from a falling light beam when he was seventeen. 

His mother falls ill. He does his best to ensure that she stays her own damn house. Only the best in-home nurses and doctors, and he visits often as he can. It’s not good enough. She’s buried next to his sister and his father (he does not see their ghosts then, but he will), and his living sister blames and blames. He is 39, and she is 46. 

There is a will reading. His sister gets enough. He gets more. He gets the property, the bragging rights as mom’s favorite, and most importantly, he gets her unsent letters.

Years later, he visits and has to stop himself from sobbing. His mother haunts the house, keeping it clean of dust, and for a moment he can deceive himself into thinking she’s still alive. She isn’t, but she still cradles his face in her hands. “You look so much like your father.” She says it with the knowledge that he inherited so very little from him, and everything from her.

Years later, he comes with a woman on his arm and hopes that he has done her good enough.

He is 42 now. It doesn’t matter how old his sister is now, because he hasn’t talked to her since the funeral. He is 42, and he’s finally seeing everything he’s been blind to for decades.

He is 42 and he finally sees.


	5. File 5- Houston, We Have a Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yes, i like and read the comics. also, Rookie needs people

Since she’d moved down to Chicago, he and the rookie had a nice system set up. Fax over the reports, talk over the phone, regular emails about personal progress and such, it was a good system they had. It meant that almost everything was turned in on time, that he and the rookie had a good working relationship, and that he had tabs on what was happening down in Chicago. It didn’t take him long to realize that things weren’t going well on her end.

No union. No trainees. Walter felt like the guys had more or less thrown her into the ocean and told her swim, even though that wasn’t their intention. If he’d had the time and people to do it, he’d have sent a representative down there to talk some sense into city hall. But New York was always busy, so _he_ was always busy, and it wasn’t like he had much himself. It was basically himself, a few interns and his secretary. 

Then everything went to hell in a handbasket on both ends. Rookie’s proton packs started malfunctioning, and then the Ghostbusters straight-up _vanished_. Walter had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and this time, it dropped **hard**. He had to pull several saves and favors out of his ass to keep things up and running, and he knew he’d be feeling the after effects of that for awhile. Sure, they came back and had more people in the end, but he _knew_ something bad was going to happen.

And boy did it.

The rookie had left a frantic phone call on his voicemail a few days later. “Hey, uh, Walter? I need you to send like, Egon or Ray down here pronto. One of the packs blew up, and I don’t even want to touch the others.” His stomach dropped. As much as he didn’t like the guys, Rookie was a friend, and he didn’t want her to get hurt. He didn’t want _anyone_ to get hurt, but she was above the rest.

Once again, there was a problem. Pretty much all of the guys were extremely busy dealing with the fact that they broke physics and suddenly had more problems than solutions, one of them being the influx of people. 

And suddenly he just figured out how to fix that problem and solve the rookie’s. It’d just take a few phone calls.

**… A few days later …**

“I can’t tell if I hate you or love you.” It was good to hear her voice at a normal level of emotion.

“I think I know what you’re talking about, but do continue.” He knew exactly what she was talking about of course. He was surprised she hadn’t called sooner.

“The new guy? Ron?”

“Ah yes, the former Ghostsmasher I sent you. How’s he adjusting to Chicago by the way?”

“He hasn’t left the warehouse yet, so I couldn’t tell you.” Warehouse, warehouse… Oh yeah, the warehouse she got for her headquarters.

“Might I ask why?”

“He’s, and I quote, making the packs ‘better than new’. If he blows himself up I just want you to know that’s not my fault.”

He couldn’t resist a chuckle, “As long they don’t blow up I’m sure you don’t have a problem.”

On the other end of the line the Rookie let out a long sigh. “I don’t, I guess. Okay, so I want to like Ron. Real smart guy and he can fix the packs and he got us a _car_.”

“But?”

“But he’s an asshole. He’s an asshole who tries to act let he’s in charge just because my nametag says ‘Rookie’ on it, and he thinks he’s so damn perfect.”

“And he’s tall and attractive.” 

He could feel her roll her eyes. “Yes, and he’s tall and has a nice ass, but I’m gonna kill him.”

“Sure you are.” There was a knock at the door, “It been nice talking to you Maddie, but I’ve gotta go.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll talk to ya later.” And then she hung up. Walter allowed himself a small smirk. If he was right, things were going to get a lot more interesting down in Rookie’s court and he had front row seats to the show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rookie in this universe is named Madeline Rook. Apparently the girl rookie is actually named Madeline Collins, according to the wiki, but i like the idea of her last name being a short version of her status.
> 
> Also, Ron is a total asshole. But aside from Peck, he's my favorite guy side character. So...


	6. File 6- Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walter has a talk with the rookie at a formal event

“God she’s beautiful” Maddie rose an eyebrow and followed his gaze over her drink. She then nearly spat it out.

“You’re joking” she choked out. He shrugged best he could. “I mean, i agree, don’t get me wrong, but god damn.”

Oh, but she was. Pretty red hair, pretty face, pretty body… He doesn’t know when he fell, but he fell long and hard. “One of these days,” he says, swirling his drink “I’ll go to another one of these stupid events, and I’ll ask her to dance with me”

 

Right now, she’s dancing with Stantz of all people, because her boyfriend has vanished into the punch line, and he feels vaguely wrong for staring. “She’d punch you”

“Maybe” he said to himself. “Or maybe i’d get lucky. It’s not like the guy she really likes will do it.” He said louder.

Spengler has two left feet and looks very uncomfortable. He hardly touches his drink and is buried in his notebook. 

“Are we still talking about the same kinda dancing here, Chief?” He looks at Maddie, scandalized.

“Yes, Ms. Rook.” he manages to sputter out. 

“Then do it now. Worse comes to worse, she slaps you and you blame it on the drink in the morning. Your secret is safe with me” He scoffs at that

“You’re fucking Ron Alexander, forgive me if i don’t believe in your good judgement.” She rolls her eyes in good nature at that.

“You’re the one that got us together, so i’d shut your mouth about that bit.” She jokes, and her eyes gleam. 

The night passes as it always does, with him watching everyone dance. Ron comes in late, and dances with his (much, much shorter) girlfriend for the rest of the night, and Walter is so very alone. He leaves alone, as always, and when he sleeps he dreams of dancing with her, again and again and again.

He was always a goddamn coward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes i ship my oc with Ron, bite me.
> 
> Also, i never mention the mystery woman's name, but we all know who it is. It's Janine. Walter has a crush on Janine. 
> 
> i never said this 100 percent followed canon


End file.
